Craig Kimbrel overpowered hitters with his rocket right arm, then overwhelmed rivals in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Jim Leyland still was dazed a day later. So were baseball fans everywhere, trying to explain one of the wackiest wrap-ups to the sport's regular season. In case you missed it:
Nearly an hour after one more loss in a historic collapse, Freddie Freeman walked through the Braves clubhouse still wearing his No. 5 uniform, as if he couldn't believe he'd be taking it off for the final time this year.
Jim Leyland was still dazed a day later. So were baseball fans everywhere, trying to explain one of the wackiest wrap-ups to the sport's regular season. In case you missed it:
A startling triple play. A spirited comeback. Huge hits by a rookie _ a Yale philosophy major, at that _ and monumental collapses on the brink.
Two rookies came through in key situations to help Atlanta's Tim Hudson beat Arizona's Josh Collmenter.
Chipper Jones tossed the ball to first base for the final out and pumped his fist emphatically.
The road from Viera, Fla., to Syracuse, N.Y. is nearly 1,300 miles long. It's a grueling 20-hour trip from the Florida coast to the brink of the Canadian border, but in the spring of 2009, Tyler Clippard needed every minute of it.
The three power arms at the back end of Atlanta's bullpen are garnering a lot of attention.
